Method and apparatus for removing coupling elements from slide fastener stringers produced with an uninterrupted row of coupling elements



Jan. 20, 1970 ,G NDM El: ETAL 3,490,133

METHOD AND APPA US R REM COUPLING ELEM TS FROM SL FASTENER S RS PRODUCEDWITH UN TERRUPTED R COUPLING ELEMENTS Filed Dec. 28, 1965 FIG! RNEY

United States Patent U.S. Cl. 29408 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREMethod and apparatus to form in slide fastener stringers, originallyproduced with an interrupted row of coupling elements formed from ahelically or meandershaped continuous filament, spaced gaps free ofcoupling elements by cutting off connecting portions connecting legportions of the coupling elements at one side of holding threads whichfasten the coupling elements to a carrier band and by engaging andmoving the connecting portions at the other side of the carrier bandrelative to the latter in such a manner so as to pull the leg portionsconnected thereto out of the holding threads without damaging thelatter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Slide fasteners are known in the art inwhich the coupling elements on the two slide fastener stringers areformed from a continuous, either helically wound or meander-shaped,filament which is connected to the carrier band of the stringer byholding threads. Such slide fastener stringers are manufactured byeither interweaving the continuous filament forming the couplingelements of the stringer with the threads of the carrier band or byfastening the continuous filament to the carrier band by sewing. In thefirst case, the holding threads extending over the leg portions of thecontinu us filament are formed by warp or weft threads of the wovencarrier band, whereas in the second case the holding threads are formedby the sewing threads.

For efiicient production of such slide fastener stringers as well as forreduction of the necessary stock in the slide fastener plant, it isadvantageous to produce substantially endless slide fastener stringersprovided with a continuous row of coupling elements and to subsequentlythen remove portions from the continuous row of filaments from thestringer to provide the stringer with spaced gaps free of couplingelements and to sever then the carrier band of the stringer in theregion of the gaps from which the coupling elements have been removed soas to form slide fastener stringers of selected length according to theorders received from the customer.

A rather cumbersome method is known in the art to provide gaps free ofcoupling elements in slide fastener stringers produced as mentionedabove by cutting the holding threads which fasten the row of couplingelements to the carrier band for the length of the gap to be formed tosever in this way the unnecessary coupling elements from the carrierband. In this case, when the holding threads are in the form of weft orwarp threads of the woven carrier band, damage of the carrier band willresult, which evidently will have a detrimental influence on the tensilestrength of the finished slide fastener. When the coupling elements aresewn onto the carrier band the sewing thread on the coupling elements3,490,133 Patented Jan. 20, 1970 ice is cut in the region where the gapshave to be formed, which will result that the coupling elements adjacentthe opposite ends of the thus formed gaps will no longer be properlyattached, which will likewise detrimentally affect further processing ofthe slide fastener.

Another method is also known in which gaps in the continuous row ofcoupling elements on an endless stringer are produced by only punchingoff the coupling portions of the coupling element which project beyondthe edge of the carrier band, whereas the remainder of the couplingelements remains attached to the band. This method, however, does notlead to gaps which are completely free of coupling elements, but thismethod will produce only gaps with coupling elements from which thecoupling portions have been removed. This not only renders furtherprocessing of the slide fastener stringers rather difficult, but thismethod has also the disadvantage that during cutting 01f the portions ofthe cutting elements extending beyond the edge of the carrier band thelatter may be easily damaged.

It is an object of the present invention to provide for a method andapparatus for producing in slide fastener stringers originallymanufactured with an uninterrupted row of coupling elements spaced gapsof predetermined length completely free of coupling elements and whichavoid the disadvantages of methods and apparatus known in the art forthis purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A method for producing gaps of predeterminedlengths and free of coupling elements and spaced a selected distancefrom each other in at least .one continuous slide fastener stringerformed by a carrier band and un uninterrupted row of coupling elementsalong one edge of the carrier band and formed by continuous filamentsbent so as to form leg portions extending spaced in longitudinaldirection of the edge from each other and transverse to the latter andconnecting portions connecting respective ends of adjacent leg portionsto each other, wherein the coupling elements abut over part of theirwidth against once face of the carrier band and the connecting portionsprojecting beyond the edge of the latter are formed with coupling facesand wherein the leg portions are intermediate the ends thereof connectedby holding threads to the band said method comprising the steps ofsevering the leg portions from the connecting portions located to oneside of the holding threads and facing away from the connecting portionsformed with the coupling faces over a distance equal to said givenwidth, gripping the connecting portions formed with the coupling facesand still connected to the leg portions, and moving the grippedconnecting portions in such a manner so as to pull the leg portionsconnected thereto out of the threads.

The connecting portions on which the coupling faces are provided andwhich project laterally beyond the edges of the carrier bands areusually farther spaced from the holding threads than the oppositeconnecting portions so that relatively large faces are available forgripping the connecting portions provided with the coupling faces,whereby a secure grip on these connecting portions will be assured. Thiswill facilitate pulling the leg portions out of the holding threadswithout damaging the latter so that even if the holding threads arefor-med by warp or weft threads of the woven carrier band the latterwill not be damaged in any way and if the holding threads areconstituted by sewing threads, the latter will not be severed so thatthe coupling elements which have to stay on the stringer will remainsecurely attached thereto.

The method according to the present invention may be carried out in aspecially advantageous manner by first pulling up two stringers toengage the coupling faces on the coupling elements of the two stringerswith each other and then simultaneously forming the gaps free ofcoupling elements in the two stringers by carrying out theabovementioned method steps. This will not only improve the etficiencyof the method, but this will also assure that the coupling elementswhich are engaged with each other will provide especially large engagingportions for gripping and pulling out the portions of the couplingelements after the connecting portions thereof which are not engagedhave been severed from the remainder of the coupling ortions.

The apparatus for carrying out the above method mainly comprises cuttingmeans having cutting edges engaging the leg portions of at least onestringer to one side of the holding threads for cutting off theconnecting portions located on the aforementioned side of the holdingthreads from the leg portions during movement of the cutting edges indirection substantially normal to the leg portions, and pulling meansarranged to engage the connecting portions on the other side of theholding threads and movable relative to the carrier band in a directionso as to pull the leg portions still connected to the connectingportions on the other side of the holding threads out of the latter.When the apparatus is used for simultaneously acting on the engagedcoupling elements of a pair of stringers, the cutting means preferablyinclude a punch having a pair of substantially parallel cutting edgesextending in longitudinal direction through a distance equal to thelength of the gap to be produced and spaced in transverse direction adistance from each other substantially equal to the distance betweenthat connecting portions on a pair of pulled up stringers which faceaway from each other, and a die having cutting edges corresponding tothe cutting edges of the punch, wherein the die and punch are movablewith respect to each other for cutting off the connecting portions fromthe ends of the leg portions. In order to avoid accidental damaging ofthe carrier band during cutting of the coupling elements, it isadvantageous to move during the cutting the die relative to the punchaway from the carrier bands.

Preferably, the apparatus includes also additional punch means locatedopposite said one punch and between the cutting edges of the die andengaging the carrier bands of the two stringers on the faces thereofopposite to the faces against which the coupling elements abut, so thatthe coupling elements will be held between the punch and the additionalpunch means and the die is movable relative to the punch and the punchmeans.

In use of the apparatus an elongated stringer provided along one edgethereof with a continuous row of coupling elements as described above,or a pair of stringers in which the coupling elements are engaged witheach other, are intermittently fed in longitudinal direction through theapparatus, whereby during the moments of standstill of the stringers thegaps free of coupling elements are produced on the stringers.

Removing of the coupling elements to form the gaps is carried out in twosteps. In the first step the connecting portions of the couplingelements of the two stringers which face away from each other aresevered from the respective ends of the leg portions by the cuttingmeans of the appaartus, and in the second production step, the otherconnecting portions are gripped and the leg portions remaining attachedthereto are pulled out by the pulling means from the holding threads.

Two different arrangements of the pulling means relative to the cuttingmeans are possible and each of the possible arrangements has certainadvantages.

In one of the possible arrangements, the cutting means and the pullingmeans are arranged to act successively on the same portions of the twoslide fastener stringers while the latter are not moved in longitudinaldirection, and this will result in a relatively short apparatus forperforming the method. In this case, the cutting means are used as partof the pulling means. In this arrangement the die means is provided witha pair of holding faces spaced from and facing a corresponding pair ofholding faces on the additional punch means and the aforementionedholding faces cooperate with each other for clamping portions of thecarrier band of the two stringers therebetween. Furthermore, theadditional punch means includes an ejector punch acting on theconnecting portions provided with the coupling faces and being movabletogether with the one punch relative to the die and the remainder of theadditional punch means for pulling the leg portions connected to theconnecting portions provided with the coupling faces out of the holdingthreads after the other connecting portions have been cut off from theleg portions.

The other possible arrangement of the cutting means and pulling meansrelative to each other is to arrange the pulling means spaced indirection of intermittent movement of the slide fastener stringers fromthe cutting means. The two aforementioned production steps of cuttingand pulling are in this arrangement performed on two different locationsof the apparatus. It is thereby especially advantageous to space thepulling means from the cutting means at such a distance, that thisdistance corresponds to the distance between two gaps to be formed onthe stringers or to a multiple of the latter named distance. In thisarrangement, the first operating :Step, that is the cutting step, isperformed at the location of the cutting means during a first pause ofintermittently feeding the stringers, and the second operating step thatis the pulling step is performed at the location of the pulling meansduring the next pause or one of the next following pauses duringintermittent feeding of the band, 'while at the same time the cuttingmeans will perform the cutting operation for the next following gap, orfor one of the following gaps. In such an arrangement the intermittentfeeding of the slide fastener stringers has to stop only for a timeperiod necessary to perform either the cutting or the pulling operation,whichever of the operations is longer, Whereas in the first mentionedarrangement the feeding of the slide fastener stringers has to bestopped each time for a time period equal to the sum of the time periodsnecessary for performing the cutting and the pulling operation. Whilethe apparatus of the second mentioned arrangement is necessarily longerand will require more space, the necessary operating time for producinga series of gaps will be considerably shorter in the second arrangement.

The pulling means for the second arrangement preferably include oppositeclamping members of a maximum width equal to that of the engagedconnecting portions of the pair of stringers, and a air of clampingmeans respectively located on opposite sides of the clamping members forrespectively clamping portions of the carrier bands of the pair ofstringers therebetween and the clamping members are movable relative toeach other for clamping the engaged connecting portions therebetween andthe clamping members are movable relative to the clamping means forpulling the leg portions connected to the engaged connecting portionsout of the holding threads. During this pulling out of the leg portions,the latter may extend inclined to the movement of the clamp ing memberswhich facilitates pulling out of the leg portions from the loops of theholding threads. The novel features which are considered ascharacteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in theappended claims. The invention itself, however, both as tortsconstruction and its method of operation, together Wlth additionalobjects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from thefollowing description of specific embodiments when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top view of twointerengaged slide fastener stringers provided with a gap free ofcoupling elements;

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross section taken along the line IIII of FIG.1;

FIGS. 3-6 are schematic cross sections through an apparatus for carryingout the method according to the present invention, wherein the variouselements of the apparatus are respectively illustrated in positions theelements will take relative to each other during successive steps ofoperation;

FIG. 7 is a cross section through a modification of the apparatusaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a top view showing the pulling means displaced from thecutting means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 partiallyillustrate a slide fastener band 10 comprising a pair of engaged slidefastener stringers 11 and 12 in which gaps 19 (only one of which isshown) of predetermined length and spaced selected distances from eachother have been produced with the method and apparatus according to thepresent invention. Each of the two slide fastener stringers 11 and 12comprises a woven carrier band 13, respectively 14, along facing edgesthereof rows of coupling elements 15, respectively 16, are providedwhich are formed from a coiled filament preferably formed from plasticmaterial and which are respectively connected to the carrier bands byholding threads 17, respectively 18. In the schematically illustratedslide fastener stringers the rows of coupling elements 15 and 16 areformed from a helically coiled polya=mide filament which is fastened tothe respective carrier band by sewing. The two stringers 11 and 12 formone unit since the coupling elements are engaged with each other byappropriate coupling faces not illustrated in the drawing. The couplingelements on the two stringers 11 and 12 comprise leg portions 42,respectively 43, which are interconnected at the outer ends facing awayfrom each other by outer connecting portions 40, respectively 41, and atthe other ends thereof by inner connecting portions 46, respectively 47.The coupling faces are formed in the usual manner on the innerconnecting portions 46 and 47 of the two rows of coupling elements.

For the reasons mentioned above, the two slide fastener stringers 11 and12 are originally produced in a continuous manner with continuousuninterrupted rows of coupling elements, and the slide fastenerstringers are fed through the apparatus according to the presentinvention in such a manner to produce on desired locations of the twostringers gaps 19 of predetermined length and completely free ofcoupling elements which are located between stringer portions 21 and 22with rows of coupling elements 15 and 16 of preselected length. Duringfurther processing of the two stringers, the successive sections 21 and22 are cut from each other in the region of the gaps 19 and subsequentlythereto sliders for coupling and uncoupling the coupling elements on thetwo stringers are placed on the same and the stringers may also beprovided with top and bottom stops for limiting movement of the slider.It would also be possible to cut the carrier bands in the region of thegaps during the process in which the gaps 19 are produced.

The FIGS. 3-6 illustrate one modification of an apparatus for producingthe gaps 19 in two interengaged slide fastener stringers as illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2. The various elements of the apparatus are illustratedin FIGS. 3-6 in positions they will respectively take with respect toeach other during carrying out the various process steps according tothe present invention. It is mentioned that FIGS. 3-6 only schematicallyillustrate the elements for cutting and removing the coupling elementsto form the gaps 19, whereas the means for moving the various elementsillustrated in proper sequence are for simplification reasons not shownin the drawings. Moving means for moving the various elementsillustrated do not form part of the present invention and they will beobvious to any person skilled in the art from the following descriptionof the direction and sequence of the movements of the elements.

The operating members 30 of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 3-6comprise a punch 31, a die having spaced portions 33 and 34, andadditional punch means located between the portions 33 and 34 of the dieopposite the punch 31. The additional punch means 32 includes a pair ofpunch parts 35 and 36 between which an ejector punch 37 is locatedmovable relative to the punch parts 35 and 36 between the positionsshown in FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively. The length of the variousoperating members of the apparatus according to the present invention inhorizontal direction is equal to the length of the gap 19 to be producedwith the apparatus.

A slide fastener band 10 comprising two pulled up slide fastenerstringers of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 in which the slidefastener stringers are provided with uninterrupted rows of couplingelements intermittently fed between the operating members 30 of theapparatus. The slide fastener band 10 is thereby fed between the members30in such a manner that the row of coupling elements 15 and 16 whichabut with part of their width against one face of the respective carrierbands 13 and 14 face with the free sides thereof upwardly.

The gaps 19 free of coupling members are produced in the slide fastenerband by the operating members 30 in two operating steps during the timethe intermittently fed band is at rest. The first of the operating stepsis illustrated in two successive phases in FIGS. 3 and 4 and the secondoperating step is illustrated in two successive phases in FIGS. 5 and 6.

During the first operating step, that is during the cutting operation,the connecting portions 40 and 41 which face away from each other of thetwo rows of coupling elements 15 and 16 are simultaneously severed overthe length of the gap to be produced from the corresponding ends of theleg portions 42 and 43. The cutting step is carried out in the followingmanner:

When the slide fastener band during intermittent feeding thereof betweenthe cooperating members 30 of the apparatus is stopped, the variousmembers 31-37 are moved toward each other until they assume the positionas illustrated in FIG. 3. Thereby the cutting edges 38 and 39 of the diemembers 33 and 34 are positioned on the ends of the leg portions 42 and43 which abut against the upper faces of the carrier bands 13 and 14 andwhich are connected by the connecting portions 40 and 41 which face awayfrom each other. The opposite sides of the coupling elements 15 and 16are engaged by the bottom face of the punch 31 having cutting edges 44and 45 respectively aligned in vertical direction with the cutting edgesof the die members 33 and 34. The distance of the cutting edges 38 and39 from each other is equal to the distance between the cutting edges 44and 45 of the punch 31 and this distance is equal to the distancebetween the connecting portions 40 and 41 which face away from eachother, and it will be noted that this distance is slightly greater thanthe distance between the outermost holding threads 17 and 18 of the twostringers.

After the various elements of the apparatus have assumed the position asshown in FIG. 3, the punch 31 and the additional punch means 32, withthe coupling elements 15 and 16 clamped therebetween, are moved relativeto the die members 33 and 34 in vertical direction. In a preferred formof the apparatus the punch 31 and the additional punch means 32 are heldstationary, whereas the die members 34 and 38 are moved relative to theaforementioned members in upward direction as indicated by the arrows inFIG. 4. The cutting edges 38 and 44 on the one side and the cuttingedges 39 and 45 on the other side cooperate together to cut during themovement relative to each other the connection portions 40 and 41 forthe length of the gap 19 to be cut out from the coupling members 15 and16. The

movement of the cutting edges is carried out in such a manner that thecutting edges 38 and 39 move away from the carrier bands 13 and 14 sothat a damage of these carrier bands will not occur. The portion of thecoupling members remaining on the carrier bands 13 and 14, whichportions consist of the leg portions 42 and 43 and the connectingportions 46 and 47 which are provided with the coupling faces and whichremain attached to the leg portions have a U-shaped configuration.

During the second operating step which is illustrated in FIGS. and 6,the remaining portions of the coupling members are pulled out from theloops of the holding threads 17 and 18. This operation is performed inthe following manner:

After the tools 30 have reached the relative position to each other asillustrated in FIG. 4, the die members 33 and 34 are moved downwardly.The die members 33 and 34, as well as the members 35 and 36 of theadditional punch means are provided on the sides thereof respectivelyfacing the carrier bands 13 and 14 with inclined clamping faces 48 and49, which during downward movement of the die members 33 and 34 approacheach other to clamp the carrier bands 13 and 14 therebetween. After themembers have reached the position as illustrated in FIG. 5, the ejectorpunch 37 sandwiched between the members 35 and 36 is moved together withthe punch 31 in upward direction relative to the die 33, 34, while thecarrier bands 13 and 14 remain clamped between the aforementionedclamping faces 48 and 49. During this movement of the ejector punch 37and the punch 31, the remaining portions of the coupling members arepulled out from the loops of the holding threads 17 and 18. To obtain abetter grip on the remaining portions of the coupling members, it isadvantageous to provide the end face of the ejector punch 37 and thebottom face of the punch 31 with appropriate small cavities formed insuch a manner to assure a tight engagement of the portions of thecoupling members with the aforementioned faces.

A further embodiment of pulling means 50 according to the presentinvention is illustrated in FIG. 7. The pulling means illustrated inFIG. 7 are constructed and operate in the following manner:

After the connecting portions 40 and 41 which face away from each otherhave been severed from the corresponding leg portions, over a distancecorresponding to the length of the gap 19 to be formed, by cuttingmeans, for instance similar to cutting means as illustrated in FIGS. 3and 4, the slide fastener band is moved in longitudinal direction untilthe coupling members from which the connecting portions 40 and 41 havebeen severed are located between the operating elements of the pullingmeans 50. Movement of the slide fastener band 10 is then stopped, andthe second operation, that is pull out of the remaining portions of thecoupling elements from the loops of the holding threads 17 and 18 isperformed by the apparatus as illustrated in FIG. 7. This apparatus ispreferably spaced from the cutting means a distance equal to thatbetween successive gaps 19 to be formed in the slide fastener band 10 sothat during pull out of the remaining coupling portions by the pullingmeans 50, the cutting apparatus ahead of the pulling means may performits cutting operation.

The pulling means 50 illustrated in FIG. 7 comprise two oppositely,substantially vertically arranged, blade-shaped clamping members 51 and52 which, when the slide fastener band 10 is at rest, are moved towardseach other so as to engage the remaining portion of the coupling membersfrom opposite sides in the region of the connecting portions 46 and 47.The carrier bands 13 and 14 are sandwiched between plate shapedsubstantially horizontal clamping means 53 and 54 and clampedtherebetween, whereupon the clamping means 53 and 54 are moved indownward direction, as indicated by the arrow 55, to pull thereby theleg portions 42 and 43 of the remaining portions of the couplingmembers, which are stationarily held 8 between the opposite ends of theclamping members 51 and 42, out of the loops of the holding threads 17and 18. A gap free of coupling elements is thus formed and the slidefastener band 10 is then again fed in longitudinal direction for adistance equal to that between two gaps and the aforementioned cycle isrepeated.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofapparatus for providing gaps free of coupling elements in a slidefastener band originally produced with continuous rows of couplingelements differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and. described as embodied inan apparatus for providing gaps free of coupling elements in a slidefastener band originally produced with continuous rows of couplingelements in which the coupling elements are formed by a continuousfilament which is attached by holding threads to the carrier bands ofthe slide fastener, it is not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madewithout departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

As will be obvious to those skilled in the art, the movement of thevarious elements of the pulling means described can be carried out alsoin a manner different from the manner mentioned above, essentially isonly that the various elements are moved relative to each other in sucha manner so as to pull the remaining portions of the coupling elementsout of the loops formed by the holding threads. For instance in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 the die members 33 and 34 togetherwith the members 35 and 36 of the additional punch means could be moveddownwardly while the ejector punch 37 and the upper punch 31 remainstationary, and with the arrangement shown in FIG. 7 it would bepossible to move the carrier band 13 and Hum in downward direction asdescribed relative to the stationarily held remaining portion of thecoupling members, but to move the carrier bands 13 and 14 insubstantially horizontal direction away from each other.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method of producing gaps of predetermined length and free ofcoupling elements and spaced a selected distance from each other in apair of pulled up continuous slide fastener stringers each comprising acarrier band and an uninterrupted row of coupling elements along oneedge of the carrier band and formed by a continuous filament bent so asto form leg portions extending spaced in longitudinal direction of saidedge from each other and transverse to the latter and connectingportions connecting respective ends of adjacent leg portions to eachother, wherein the coupling elements a-but over part of the widthagainst one face of the carrier band and the connecting portionsprojecting beyond said edge are formed with coupling faces engaged withcorresponding coupling faces on the filament of the other stringer, andwherein the leg portions are intermediate the ends thereof connected byholding threads to said band, said method comprising the steps ofsevering the leg portions of a plurality of coupling elements of thefilament of each stringer and extending over a distance equal to saidpredetermined length from the connecting portions located on one side ofsaid holding threads and facing away from the connecting portions formedwith said coupling faces; gripping the connecting portions formed withsaid coupling faces of said plurality of coupling elements and which arestill connected to said leg portions; and moving said gripped connectingportions relative to the carrier bands in such a manner so as to pullthe leg portions connected to said gripped connecting portions out ofsaid holding threads.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, and including the step of moving saidslide fastener stringers in longitudinal direction through a distanceequal to said selected distance and repeating the aforementioned steps.

3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein said slide fastener stringersare intermittently moved through said selected distance after said legportions are severed and before the connecting portions formed with saidcoupling faces are gripped and subsequently moved so as to pull saidsevered leg portions out of said threads.

4. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein intermittent movement of theslide fastener stringers in longitudinal direction occurs only after thesevered legs have been pulled out of said threads.

5. An apparatus for carrying out the method of claim 1 and comprising,in combination, cutting means having cutting edges arranged to engagethe leg portions of said stringers to said one side of said holdingthreads and movable in direction substantially normal to said legportions for cutting off the connecting portions located at said oneside of said holding threads from said leg portions; and pulling meansarranged to engage the connecting portions on the other side of saidholding threads and movable relative to said carrier bands in adirection so as to pull the leg portions connected to said connectingportions on the other side of said holding threads out of the latter.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said cutting meansinclude a punch having a pair of substantially parallel cutting edgesextending in longitudinal direction through said predetermined distanceand being spaced in transverse direction a distance from each othersubstantially equal to the distance betweeen that connecting portions ona pair of pulled up stringers which face away from each other, and a diehaving cutting edges aligned with said cutting edges of said punch, saiddie and punch being movable with respect to each other for cutting offsaid connecting portions from the ends of said leg portions.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said die is movablerelative to said punch in direction away from the carrier bands of thetwo stringers during cutting off said connecting portions.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, and including additional punchmeans located opposite said one punch and between said cutting edges ofsaid die, said additional punch means having faces arranged to engagethe carrier bands of the two stringers on faces thereof opposite to thefaces against which said coupling elements abut and said 10 additionalpunch means being movable together with said one punch relative to saiddie.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein said die means has a pairof clamping faces spaced from and facing a corresponding pair ofclamping faces on said additional punch means, said clamping facescooperate with each other for clamping portions of the carrier bands ofthe two stringers therebetween, said additional punch means includingfurther an ejector punch arranged for acting on the connecting portionsprovided with the coupling faces, being movable together with said onepunch relative to said die and the remainder of said additional punchmeans for pulling the leg portions connected to said connecting portionsprovided with said coupling faces out of said holding threads after theother connecting portions have been cut olf from said leg portions.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, wherein said pulling means aredisplaced in longitudinal direction of said stringers from said cuttingmeans.

11. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said pulling means aredisplaced in longitudinal direction of said stringers from said cuttingmeans through a distance substantially equal to said selected distancebetween successive gaps to be formed in the slide fastener band.

12. An apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein said pulling meansinclude opposite clamping members of a maximum width substantially equalto that of the engaged connecting portions of the pair of stringers andof a length equal to said predetermined length, and a pair of clampingmeans respectively located to opposite sides of said clamping membersfor respectively clamping carrier band portions of the pair of stringerstherebetween, said clamping members being movable relative to each otherfor clamping said engaged connecting portions therebetweeu, and saidclamping means being movable relative to said clamping members in adirection for pulling said leg portions connected to the engagedconnecting portions out of said holding threads.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,005,581 10/1961 Burbank 839213,128,543 4/1964 Fasciano. 3,225,430 12/1965 Fasciano. 3,245,136 4/1966Taylor 29-408 X 3,391,441 7/1968 Carlile 29207.5 X

THOMAS H. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

